A Maasai Perspective on Vegetarianism

Last October I had the distinct privilege to visit a Maasai village in eastern Tanzanian. My husband and I were the only Mazungas (white folk) there so we had the full attention of our host; the 23 year old son of the village elder—head of the village. The entire experience was surreal, to say the least, but what sticks in my memory is the time that the three of us spent inside one of the bomas, simply talking and asking questions about each other's lifestyles.

I found his choice of topics and questioning fascinating. He could have asked us questions about our jobs, our family life, technological advances in the Western world...even questions about the weather would have been expected. What he questioned us about (in great detail) was the availability of milk in Canada!

He had found through our conversation, that there were dairy farmers in our family history and I guess he latched on to that commonality.

We compared herd size ( I think that the number of cattle is an indicator of wealth). He then had a us calculate how much a litre of milk would cost (converted to Tanzanian shillings) then an estimate on how much of that money is actually given to the farmer/herdsman.

He told us that a typical diet of the Maasai is milk and blood. He drinks 10 litres of milk per day. Calculating the cost of milk (if he lived in Canada) he laughingly stated that he would not be able to survive in Canada.

On occasion meat is eaten in the morning, but typically blood is mixed with milk for the morning meal. According to him,  they do not eat vegetables or grains at any time. They do drink beer (which is probably made with grains), but he was adamant that eating vegetables "makes you fat and lazy" and therefore not a part of the Maasai lifestyle. Nothing was ever mentioned about the activity level of the Maasai. The fact that they are constantly on the move and not sitting in front of a computer or tv for hours on end has to contribute to their level of fitness and health.

I always thought that vegetables would not be included in their diet because they are known as a nomadic tribe—therefore they aren't settled in a place long enough to raise vegetables.

I have to admit, looking at this fit, lean young man who was telling us that vegetables are a no-no, I couldn't argue that their non-veg lifestyle was a detriment to their health.

Maasai herdsmen and their cattle